Rising Seas Could Encircle New Orleans by the End of This Century
This article was originally published by The Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, which was built after Hurricane Katrina to protect New Orleans from floods. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Rising seas could render New Orleans uninhabitable before the end of this century, according to a new paper calling for a managed retreat from the city.
The process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately, as the city has reached a “point of no return” that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded.
Ongoing sea level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations, with the new paper estimating the city “may well be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century.”
Low-lying southern Louisiana faces multiple threats, with rising sea levels driven by global heating, compounded by strengthening hurricanes, also a feature of the climate crisis, and the gradual subsidence of a coastline that has been carved apart by the oil and gas industry.